Keeping the tradition of textiles alive

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru:

Heritage Beku is back this weekend. A talk on heritage textiles in India by Prasad Bidapa, a pioneer of the fashion industry in the country, will speak on the need to revive and rejuvenate the artisanal community across textile and craft sectors. The focus of his talk is going to be khadi, kanjivaram and banarasi sarees. He said, “The purpose of the talk is to inspire the younger generation to wear more khadi and handloom. To make it fashionable again. We want to create direct contact between the artisan and the customer and cut out the middle man.”

“Karnataka has one great silk weave called Molakalmuru. The state has been a center for silk weaving for centuries. They say Karnataka was supplying silk even to the Roman Empire. But sadly, the silk industry in Karnataka isn’t as bright as it used to be owing in large part to competition from China,” he explained. “Young women today don’t like wearing heave sarees. So we have to redesign the sarees to make them more modern and livelier to attract the younger audience,” said Bidappa who had previously organised Rajasthan Heritage Week in 2015 along with the Khadi Board for the Government of Rajasthan. He stressed the need to get the sector organised.

“If you look at cotton growing, silk rearing and spinning, weaving, printing, dieing and retail, over 20% of the population of the state are directly or indirectly involved in the process of manufacturing indigenous heritage textiles. It will create a lot of employment across the board,” he said. “Any designer can go to a shop and buy Chinese fabric but if you sit with a weaver and develop a fabric, the print, the colours, you have something unique. You are making a statement. Then you can really call yourself a designer because you have really worked from the ground up. Otherwise, you’re just a tailor,” he said, adding that we have a heritage that is so rich and wonderful that there is no reason to buy foreign fabric.

Bidapa is currently working with various government departments to create similar handloom revival projects in various other Indian states. He works with national and international designers to present the products of India in handloomed cotton, wool, silk and khadi. This year he will present shows for the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav programs. Heritage Beku is a citizen initiative to maintain and preserve Bengaluru’s fading heritage. Their focus is to have an agile, dynamic, evolving framework to reflect citizen voices and channel them to positively impact the preservation of the city’s heritage, be it built, natural, or cultural.

Where: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar
When: June 12, 5:30 - 6:30
Entry: Free